Sacred Heart vs Merrimack 2/15/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Merrimack Warriors will travel to the William H. Pitt Center to take on the Sacred Heart Pioneers this Tuesday night in College Basketball action.

The Merrimack Warriors improved to 10-15 on the season after defeating the Wagner Seahawks, 80-65 (OT), this past Saturday. Merrimack was able to force OT after Malik Edmead hit a game-tying layup with :49 seconds left in regulation and had no trouble pulling away for the victory after taking a 67-60 lead with 2:14 left in OT. Merrimack shot 56.3% from the field & 33.3% from beyond the arc while holding Wagner to shoot 35.4% from the field & 5.0% from beyond the arc. Leading the way for the Warriors was Jordan Minor who had a double-double with 21 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, & 2 steals.

On the season, Merrimack is averaging 59.3 ppg on 40.7% shooting from the field. The Warriors are averaging 6.6 three-pointers per game on 31.9% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, Merrimack has been led by Jordan Minor (14.6 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 1.1 apg, 1.5 spg), Ziggy Reid (10.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.1 apg, 1.2 spg), Malik Edmead (9.9 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.6 spg), & Mikey Watkins (9.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.8 apg, 1.8 spg).

Defensively, Merrimack is allowing their opponents to average 64.3 ppg on 43.2% shooting from the field. The Warriors have a rebound margin of -10.2 and a turnover margin of 3.0.

The Sacred Heart Pioneers lost their 2^nd straight game and dropped to 8-16 on the season after being defeated by the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights, 82-75, this past Saturday. Sacred Heart trailed by a 38-31 margin at halftime and could not fight back after Fairleigh Dickinson took a 71-57 lead with 4:38 left in regulation. Sacred Heart shot 41.5% from the field & 19.0% from beyond the arc while allowing Fairleigh Dickinson to shoot 48.4% from the field & 26.9% from beyond the arc. Leading the way for the Pioneers was Bryce Johnson who had a double-double with 22 points, 13 rebounds, 1 assist, & 1 steal.

On the season, Sacred Heart is averaging 72.5 ppg on 43.8% shooting from the field. The Pioneers are averaging 8.3 three-pointers per game on 34.2% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, Sacred Heart has been led by Tyler Thomas (17.4 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.3 spg), Aaron Clarke (16.3 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 4.2 apg), Nico Galette (10.9 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 2.1 apg), Alex Watson (7.9 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.3 apg).

Defensively, Sacred Heart is allowing their opponents to average 75.5 ppg on 45.9% shooting from the field. The Pioneers have a rebound margin of 0.9 and a turnover margin of -2.5.

The Warriors are 0-4-1 ATS in their last 5 games following a ATS win & 9-13-2 ATS overall on the season. The Pioneers are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 Tuesday games, however, are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 home games.

Merrimack struggled at the beginning of conference play this season, however, the Warriors have looked better as of late with road wins at Saint Francis (PA) & Wagner and have a defense that had done a great job of keeping opponents off the scoreboard. Sacred Heart has lost 6 of their last 7 games and between the fact that the Pioneers having a losing record at home and that their defense is ranked just 314^th in scoring defense & 310^th in defensive FG%, I think the play here is to take Merrimack and the points. Good Luck!